Power of the Sun
by alienyouthct
Summary: "The Goblet of Fire! Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly! If chosen, there's no turning back."


Title: Power of the Sun  
Author: JoeHundredaire  
Rating: PG-13/FR15  
Disclaimer: Captain Fangirlhumper… err, J.K. Rowling owns the world the _Harry Potter_ series takes place in. Wish the characters were mine so I could do utterly retarded things to them and watch my bank account get steadily larger, but sadly not mine. As for the Superman franchise and all its assorted characters… who the shit knows; people keep suing and countersuing over who owns it. Let's just go with 'not mine' and leave it as that.  
Summary: "The Goblet of Fire! Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly! If chosen, there's no turning back."  
Joe's Note: This is third in the "Adventures Luna Never Had" series. Up next… who knows? My mind is a mysterious and scary place most days. For now, though, enjoy this little bit of fun. I had intended to do this set during _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_, but then my mental image of Luna shifted a bit and I decided to push the tournament back. So we're going to be visiting an AU where Harry Potter won and… well, it's all explained in the story. Enjoy.

* * *

"Amazing! Li Alezae gives us a look at the magic of her ancestors as she summons a water elemental to defeat her foe. The Chinese Fireball is down and Alezae has retrieved her egg! And now for her scores…"

Grumbling, Harry Potter leaned back in his seat, watching as the slim half-Asian, half-French representative of Beauxbatons made her way off the converted quidditch pitch, golden egg tucked under her arm. After his defeat of Voldemort, a number of students had expressed an interest in returning to finish their education and Headmistress McGonagall had temporarily expanded the school to include 'eighth year' dorms for each house, folding the students in with the seventh year students to attend classes.

To celebrate his defeat of wizarding Britain's greatest menace, the Ministry of Magic had convinced Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to allow a second straight Triwizard Tournament to be held at Hogwarts, after which it would resume its normal triennial pattern and begin cycling through the participating schools. The First Task was centered around 'remembering and learning from history' and thus had been announced the night of the champions' selection so the three schools' champions could prepare. Strangely, while both Fleur and Viktor had returned to coach their respective schools' new champions, nobody had sought him out to ask for advice on how to handle stealing a golden egg from a dragon.

Then again, the fact that someone else should - or could - be asking him for advice was a bit of a sore point with Harry at the moment. "I can't believe I didn't get picked to be Hogwarts' champion. I'm actually legally eligible this time, and I didn't get picked." He glared down at the tent on the edge of the tree line balefully, waiting for the next contestant to emerge. "I mean, who is this 'Luna Lovegood', anyways?"

Sighing, Hermione Granger rolled her eyes and slapped her boyfriend upside the head with the program that each spectator had been given upon entering the stands around the quidditch pitch. "Someone the Goblet of Fire found to be a more worthy champion for Hogwarts than you, whoever she is. Just because she's not part of our group and didn't help fight against the Death Eaters doesn't make her a bad person, Harry. She's a Ravenclaw, after all, and Rowena Ravenclaw was famous for saying 'wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'. I mean, what we did was brave and noble, but it certainly wasn't the smart thing to do from the viewpoint of someone who looks at things logically."

"And that'd be great, if we weren't talking about Loony Lovegood, Mione." Ron Weasley leaned across Harry, staring at Hermione even as he gestured at the tent where the girl in question was waiting. "Loony wears radishes for earrings. And a necklace made of corks. Don't even get me started on the weird shit that comes out of her mouth… last week, she walked up to Lavender and I while we were snogging and asked if we'd seen any nargles." The petite blonde at Ron's side blushed even as her boyfriend's ears turned red at the memory. "That girl isn't right in the head, and I don't care what the Goblet of Fire says, she's definitely not champion material."

A chuckle came from in front of them and Harry's scowl shifted to the head of black hair in front of him, marred by a single streak of white. "What's so funny, Skunk?"

Turning to look back at him, Lara Ramsay just grinned at him, eyes twinkling behind her purple-framed glasses. "I think you'll be surprised by Luna. Although I have to admit… I'm going to enjoy taking your money, Potter. What did you put into the Weasley twins' pool? Twenty-five galleons says she doesn't make it more than two minutes before calling for help?"

"Harry James Potter!" Oh Lord, he was getting three-named. He was in trouble now. Peeking over at Hermione, he found the brunette glaring at him, arms crossed over her chest. "Did you bet against your school's own champion?"

"Would you believe me if I told you Skunk was lying?"

"No."

"Bugger."

* * *

Humming tunelessly to herself as she worked, Luna Lovegood carefully removed the plethora of extensions that helped her transform from the young woman the muggles of Ottery St. Catchpole - and countless other places around the world - were used to seeing into the long-haired girl her peers were familiar with. Nearby, her silver contacts were sitting in a white plastic container, patiently awaiting her return. Out of the three Triwizard Champions, she had picked the most dangerous dragon, which gave her the 'bonus' of being given extra preparation time as the other two faced their dragons. Or it would have, if she needed any sort of preparation for this task. Luna giggled. Oh no. She was very well prepared for this task. Very well indeed.

Her confidence coming into the task had certainly shocked everyone around her. She had emerged from relative obscurity for the event, going from the strange girl that skated through her schooling and barely talked to anyone to the Hogwarts Champion and center of intense scrutiny. Luna couldn't wait to see her classmates' faces after the task. After all, she was 'Loony' Lovegood. How could she possibly have what it took to face a dragon? While there was a large betting pool going on who would take the top placement, a second pool had sprung up betting on how long it would take for her to be forced to concede the task. Using her friend Lara as an agent, Luna had placed a few bets with the intention of splitting any winnings with Lara. Even if Luna placed dead last, she'd come out of the experience with a greatly fattened purse to take to the next Hogsmeade weekend.

Applause roared through the arena, loud enough that Luna didn't even need her enhanced abilities to hear it, and she rose to her feet. Any second, it would be her turn. Looking down, she ran one last check of her outfit. She'd had to switch out capes for the day, opting in favor of one that - while red like all her others - was cut to fall around her body and envelop it like a robe, making her look like just another witch… at least until she started moving. Parting it, she ran her hands up and down her sides a few times, smoothing out a few nonexistent wrinkles in her white leotard before tugging first on the cuff of one blue glove and then the other, finishing by checking her matching blue boots. Idly, she found herself wondering what the three parents who couldn't be in the stands would think of what she was about to do. Hoped they were watching. Hoped she was about to make them proud.

Luna waited patiently, knowing that it would take a bit for the handlers to herd one dragon off the quidditch pitch and then move hers into position. Looking around to make sure she was alone, she slowly bent backwards, listening to her vertebrae crack and pop as she worked out the kinks. Then, when she was as far back as she could be with her hands pressed against the ground, she floated a few inches up into the air to give herself more room to work with and continued to bend backwards until she finally felt the slightest stirring of discomfort. After holding the position for a few seconds, she flipped end over end over end over end and let herself drop back to the ground, feeling refreshed and ready to fight a dragon.

Which was good, because that was exactly what she was planning to do.

Then she heard the whistle blow and Luna began to hum again, skipping as she made her way out of the tent, past a few trees, and then down a tunnel that led her out onto the quidditch pitch. Her wide blue eyes swept back and forth, taking everything in as she filed away every last detail for possible use. There were hundreds and hundreds of people watching her, she realized; she'd expected an audience for this little coming out party of hers and was used to working in front of crowds, but the last time she'd seen this many witches and wizards in place was… she couldn't think of a time, to be honest. It was rather impressive to see. The stands they occupied were wooden, which probably wasn't a very bright idea given she was about to face a dragon. Oh well. Not her problem.

The dragon, on the other hand… it was her problem. Luna eyed her opponent carefully, watching as it shifted from side to side protectively over a clutch of eggs. With each movement, Luna could see the sunlight glint off the golden egg, marking it for easy retrieval. The dragon's wings were half-furled, ready to extend at a moment's notice, and its tail thrashed back and forth viciously, the spikes on it digging yard-long gouges in the hard ground. Noise poured from the crowd, most of it unfriendly jeers that seemed to affect the dragon more than her, but Luna blocked it out. What her peers thought of her hadn't slowed Luna one whit for the last six years and it wasn't going to affect her performance now.

It was time for the world to learn that there was more to her than what she let them see. More than the mask of 'Loony' Lovegood. More than even Luna Lovegood.

It was time for the world to meet Luna Zor-L, daughter of Zor-L and Alura In-Z, and the last daughter of Krypton.

Spreading her arms to give the crowd a good look at her unusual - and revealing - outfit, Luna smiled faintly before tapping into her powers and floating up off the ground. "…sweet Merlin! Is she… am I seeing things? Is that girl flying?" Ludo Bagman's astonished voice rang out over the enclosure, making Luna's grin widen even further as the crowd suddenly fell silent. Giving a slow pirouette, she took in all their faces. Some were disbelieving, some stared in awe… and this was the least of her secrets. Completing her spin, Luna came face-to-face with the dragon again and paused for a long moment before tipping forward and charging it.

Phase one: diversionary tactics. While there was a possibility she could slip underneath, grab the egg, and get away, the speeds she'd have to move at would leave her extremely vulnerable. Even a lucky glancing blow could send her out of control and into the stands, harming innocents. So she'd lure the dragon away, then double back to reclaim her egg. And so Luna went to work, charging at the dragon's head only to spin to the right at the last moment and slip past, the beast's giant teeth snapping at her fluttering cape as she passed.

"Look at that girl go! Even the great Albus Dumbledore wasn't able to fly without the use of a broom or someone casting a charm on them, but we have a barrier in place to keep our champions from receiving outside help. Ladies and gentlemen, Luna Lovegood is somehow defying one of the fundamental laws of magic!" Luna giggled a bit at that as she circled around behind the dragon's head, drifting in closer so she could run her fingers along its skin as she flew forward again. Oh, if only Bagman knew… no magic, just a mix of willpower and good breeding. "Oh! She just touched the Horntail and it does not look… look out, Miss Lovegood!"

There was a giant roar from behind her, one that had nothing to do with the crowd, and Luna twisted to stare back at her dragon. Deep in the gaping maw before her, she saw the first sparks light and then a torrent of fire streamed forth, crossing the distance between them in mere seconds. In that time, Luna took a deep breath… and blew. And blew. And blew. Hurricane force winds battled with dragon fire, chunks of ice dropping to the ground far below and shattering on impact as Luna's breath began to overwhelm the dragon's natural weapon. Finally, the Horntail gave in and snapped its jaws shut, turning its head to try and avoid the bitter cold as it brought its tail up to slam hard into her side.

Luna grunted with the impact, tumbling through the air to her left for a few yards before regaining control and whirling to face the dragon once more. "Oh! That had to hurt! Miss Lovegood has suffered… no injury that we can see?" Reaching down, Luna felt at her leotard. That sounded about right. Her body would resist the injury easily, and she'd made sure to make sure that her outfit was as tear-resistant as possible to keep others from seeing exactly how invulnerable she really was. "Well I'll be! As far as I can see, all it did was tear her cape!"

"My cape? You tore my cape?" Luna tugged at the red fabric, pulling it around her body so she could see the great rip where one of the dragon's tail spikes had punched through. "You… you… ugh!" Granted it wasn't her normal, fully enchanted cape but she'd still put a lot of work into making it as close as possible over the last few weeks. "That's it. Gloves are off." Stripping off one blue glove and then the other, Luna debated for a moment before flying over to where Lara was sitting in the stands, handing them to favorite Hufflepuff. "Here, hold these."

Because it was time for phase two: punch a dragon.

* * *

"…she just knocked out a dragon. By punching it in the head. Once."

Rising, Lara stretched before turning to grin at Harry as the rest of the silent stadium watched Luna and her golden egg depart through the same tunnel she'd arrived via. "Yep. And then she flew around a bit more so she'd come in right on the time we agreed on, flew down, and collected her egg. Three minutes and twelve seconds: well within the 'three to five minutes' I put a bet on, but far enough past three minutes that the Weasley twins won't be able to argue whether or not she passed the threshold. Thank you, Mister Potter, for helping make us a pair of very rich girls."

Still more than a little annoyed with her boyfriend on several levels - not to mention a bit curious about this strange new version of a girl she'd spent five years sharing a school with - Hermione pulled away from Harry and gave chase as Lara departed the bleachers, thundering down the rickety wooden steps and heading towards the tent that housed the three champions. The aurors guarding it didn't challenge either of them and so Hermione followed Lara inside, letting the Hufflepuff lead her over to a black divider emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest. Behind it, she found Luna tipping her head back as she poked at her eye with one finger. Hermione's jaw dropped. The wizarding world knew what contacts were?

Then Hermione's gaze dropped about a foot south and if her mouth hadn't already been wide open… wow. Granted the school uniforms were hardly designed with sex appeal in mind, but they weren't entirely repulsive and… where had Luna been hiding those for the last year or two? Or three or four; she must have started puberty awfully early to end up that gifted at her age. Jeeze. Hermione wasn't even attracted to girls and even she thought Luna looked amazing.

Or was she? Attracted to girls, that was? All of a sudden, Hermione realized that while she'd gone to the Yule Ball with Viktor and was now dating Harry, both were more about a mental and emotional connection than physical attraction. And for some reason? Not only could she easily admit to herself that she found Luna attractive, but Hermione couldn't for the life of her manage to stop staring at the younger girl. Sudden movement made Hermione jerk her head up guiltily, only to find Luna staring at her and looking… amused, dare she say? Casting about for a safe conversational opener, Hermione's eyes landed on the blonde's greatly shortened locks. "Luna! When did you cut your hair?"

Luna blinked owlishly, reaching up to play with the ends of her long bob for a moment before looking down at her outfit. Or, like Hermione, at where a hole cut in the center of her leotard's chest was exposing a mile of cleavage. "…you actually noticed the hair?"

"Well, after a fashion."


End file.
